Survey of property purchased by Thomas and William Wallis
The Clark family played a prominent role in the colonial and early national history of Newton, Massachusetts. Although there are some discrepancies in the early family history, John Clark (1641-1695) and his wife Elizabeth Norman (b. 1665) appear to have settled in Cambridge Village (now Newton), Massachusetts, in about 1681. When Clark died in 1695, most of his estate passed to his sons John and William (1686-1737), including a profitable sawmill and eight acres of land he had purchased from Indians near their fishing grounds on the Upper Falls of the Charles River.
In 1725, William Clark acquired additional property in Newton that became the site of his family's farm. Active in the public life of his community, Clark and his wife Hannah (Kee) had seven children, including two sons who lived to their majority, Norman (1710-1787) and William (b. 1716). Norman's son, Norman Jr. (1751-1826), followed in his father's and grandfather's footsteps in representing his community, serving as a town Selectman and, during and after the Revolutionary War, as Collector of Taxes. Although never exceptionally wealthy, by the 1790s the family were counted among the Newton elite as steady and prosperous citizens.
From the guide to the Clark Family Papers MS 654., 1679-1814, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries)
